Individual Power Plan
Currently, a revolution in nursing is no news given the surging numbers of nurses to leadership positions than ever before. In these posts, nurse leaders have epitomized different types of power in their daily activities. Typical examples of powers commonly observed in nurses include referent, legitimate, referent, expert, coercive, reward and most recently informational power (Marquis & Huston, 2015). Whatever the kind of authority that an individual possesses, he/she must have plans of developing that power base especially if it facilitates his/her achievement of personal goals. Thus, a self-assessment for an individual’s sense of power and driving forces towards the development of the power base are of the essence in the establishment of an effective own power plan. As such, the center of intrigue for this discussion is to come up with an individual power plan that will facilitate my achievement of personal leadership goals. With such revelation, it is beyond doubt that I will be able to have a clear pathway of maintaining a healthy power base.
Type of Power
First and most importantly, a self-evaluation of a sense of the current type of power is vital in laying a foundation for developing an effective power plan. Primarily, my leadership goal since my first experience up-to-date as a nurse has always been to become a nurse manager that epitomizes a sense of expert power through knowledge and skills. Currently, at my place of work, nothing that I have done can reflect a shortcoming in my pursuit of portraying this type of power. That is the case given the tendency of many of former colleagues to put trust on me to achieve positive outcomes through good decision making despite the difficult nature of tasks. Moreover, the high reputation held for in different institutions that I have worked for up to the present and ability of others to depend on me for direction are other reasons that point to my expert power. All these instances depict my use of expert power since an individual utilizing the same stands out for being reliable to others and ability to influence others to grow professionally (Mindtools, 1996-2015). Evidently, from these instances, it is indisputable that I demonstrate expert power.
Motivating Factors
Personal motivating factors that inform the need for developing the power base are also worth noting. Holding on to expertise in one field requires the constant development of skills and knowledge (Mindtools, 1996-2015). As such, this revelation inspires me to keep on trying to better this type of power in my everyday life. Also, the need to remain at the top of the area of expertise is another sole reason that inspires my actions of building my expert power at all costs. Failure to do so will result in loss of this power since people will no longer seek my opinion on issues relating to this area. That notwithstanding, my passion of influencing others to gain new skills and knowledge is another reason for my decision to improve the expertise. A loss of this kind of control is not easy to take, and thus a determination to preserve the same is inevitable. Clearly, with such driving forces, a commitment to developing the power base is unavoidable.
Action Plan
Coming up with an action plan for the development of the personal power base is also worthwhile in the maintenance of the possessed kind of power. Central to the building of the expert power is several activities. An example befitting of such activities is a lifelong commitment to academic study through enrollment to training courses that relate to the field of interest (Marquis & Huston, 2015). Such a commitment will ensure that I do not stop at my basic baccalaureate degree in nursing, but proceed to attain my Masters and Ph.D. in nursing management. Furthermore, it will enable me to acquire the appropriate knowledge and skills that are necessary for the attainment of my long-term leadership goal of being an effective nurse manager.
Secondly, information gathering is another method of developing my expert power. It involves collecting information about the healthcare policy, which will inspire their motivation to get involved in policy setting as leaders (Fry, 2013). Furthermore, knowledge of current trends and practices in nursing as well as information specific to the area of specialization is also necessary for the improvement of this type of power. With such information, it is apparent that I will be on course to attain my leadership goal of becoming a competent nursing manager that exemplifies expertise power.
Lastly, involvement in research is also essential for the preservation of expert power. According to Marquis & Huston (2015), research lays out the best evidence-based practice onto which a nurse can rely upon when offering health care service. As such, this provision by research will result in best outcomes, since I will be able to utilize proven nursing skills and anchor decision on well-documented knowledge. Thus, this is proof enough that research will enhance my expert power to the unforeseeable future.
Conclusion
In closure, indeed creating a power plan is both a challenging and time-consuming process that has many demands. Such is the case given the need to assess the type of power relies on and the motivating factors for developing an action plan that will enhance one’s power. Thus, a nurse must be aware of these issues if he/she is to have an efficient power plan that will achievement of desired leadership goals. However, failure to do so will significantly reduce the chances of maintaining the power status as a leader.
References
Fry, B. (2013). Power up your leadership: Straight talk for nurse managers. Canadian Nurse, 109(5), 32–33.
Marquis, B. & Huston, C. (2015). Leadership roles and management functions in nursing (8th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins.
Mindtools, (2015). Building Expert Power: Earn Respect by Developing Expertise. Mindtools.com. Retrieved 5 January 2017, from https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_04.htm
